[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 92 (Wednesday, May 26, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3497-S3498]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            BORDER SECURITY

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, in the 4 months since the Democrats 
took control of the U.S. Government, they have not once indicated they 
understand the severity of the crisis playing out along our southern 
border.
  It is hard to believe they get the same reports from Customs and 
Border Protection as I do, so just in case they haven't seen this 
month's update yet, I am going to go ahead and run through the numbers.
  In April, CBP apprehended more than 178,000 people trying to 
illegally cross our border.
  Almost 14,000 of them were unaccompanied children or single minors.
  Drug seizures were up 6 percent from March. We have already seized 
more fentanyl this year than we did all last year.
  On top of all that we are still catching smugglers trying to pass off 
counterfeit face masks, prohibited COVID test kits, and banned 
pharmaceuticals.
  It is important to understand that all of this, from the human 
trafficking to the drug smuggling to the bootleg PPE operations, are 
symptoms of a much bigger problem.
  We are dealing with a systemic humanitarian, health and safety, and 
national security crisis that gets worse every time the Biden 
administration doubles down on open borders rhetoric.
  What is worse, they are treating the chaos like a logistics issue. 
Instead of trying to reduce the flow of migrants coming to the southern 
border, the Biden administration is trying to speed the flow.
  They are actively trying to move as many migrants into our country as 
possible.
  Last week, we received reports that the Department of Health and 
Human Services is using Chattanooga, TN, as a rally point for 
unaccompanied minors on their way to meet up with their sponsors or 
move on to area shelters and homes.
  We saw video of the children getting off of planes at Wilson Air 
Center and boarding buses to continue on their journey. At least four 
planes full of unaccompanied minors landed in Chattanooga last week.
  It is important to realize that all this was happening in the dead of 
night, without the knowledge of any Tennessee elected officials or 
community leaders.
  No transparency, no coordination, no notice whatsoever.
  This is cause for concern not only because HHS circumvented State 
authorities but because this Agency has a history of operating under a 
veil of secrecy when it concerns their handling of migrant children.
  Back in 2014, HHS blocked congressional oversight of their migrant 
housing facilities. Our attempts to tour one such facility, which at 
the time housed more than 1,000 children, were met with delays, denials 
and refusals.
  Fast-forward to today, and HHS is being just as secretive about how 
they are managing care for these children. Fortunately, eyewitnesses 
have come forward to confirm the scope and secrecy of this operation.
  One source said: ``They have intentionally not shared a lot of 
information with us. They don't want this to get out.''
  He went on: ``They had, to my understanding, a field full of buses 
with more buses and more buses running all of these routes. Now, 
they're flying the kids because the buses were easier to videotape 
going down the highway. They've changed their strategy from buses to 
flying . . . In Chattanooga and other cities, motorcoach companies are 
waiting on planes to land and continuing their trek further north, 
dropping kids off along the way.''
  Now, let's be clear about one thing: The children in those buses are 
victims--victims of irresponsible rhetoric, of bad policy, and of 
manipulation and abuse by traffickers.
  I would implore my colleagues to listen to these stories and to 
accept that the tragedy is compounded by the knowledge that none of 
these children should have been on those buses in the first place.
  Moving children through Border Patrol custody, into HHS custody, and 
then delivering them to sponsors throughout the country is not a 
solution to the problem. It only makes the problem worse.
  If Democrats want to embrace a ``humane'' approach to immigration 
reform, they should stop worrying about those talking points and secure 
the border. Treat this like the crisis it is.
  Restore the Migrant Protection Protocols. I have introduced a bill 
that would make that happen; all we need is a few votes and a 
signature.
  Fully embrace our title 42 authority to turn away adults and children 
who attempt to enter the country illegally. Close the loophole that has 
tempted so many parents to send their children to the border alone.
  Resume construction of the border wall, and invest in the 
infrastructure, technology, and manpower it will take to truly secure 
those points of entry.
  But above all else, stop making promises you can't keep.
  This is the most important piece of advice I can give to my 
colleagues on

[[Page S3498]]

the other side of the aisle and to the administration.
  I know that you believe opening the border is compassionate policy, 
but the cartels are exploiting your version of compassion and using it 
to manipulate desperate families.
  For some inexplicable reason, the Biden administration has made it 
official policy to finish the cartels' work for them and take these 
children to their new life, which could be as part of an MS-13 gang, or 
a labor work crew, or a sex trafficking ring. It could be with drug 
runners.
  If you believe all these children are headed to their families, 
you're living in fantasyland.
  Last week, Senator Hagerty, Congressman Fleischman, and I sent a 
letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and OHS Secretary Alejandro 
Mayorkas asking for an explanation. We are still waiting for a 
satisfactory response.
  But I will tell you, you cannot fix this crisis with a talking point. 
You cannot fix it by staying silent, as Secretaries Becerra and 
Mayorkas have chosen to be.
  Parents are sending their children 1,000 miles across the continent 
in the custody of drug mules and sex traffickers because the 
administration has given them hope that if they take this one, 
unthinkable risk, the door will be open, and they will be able to 
follow their children into the country.
  We have the power to stop this.
  It is time to abandon talking points, address the root cause of the 
crisis, and secure our southern border before it is too late. Because 
if we have learned anything about how the cartels operate, the children 
who passed through Chattanooga last week, the ones who made it here, 
are the lucky ones.

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